The Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock is a self-proclaimed "Church" that follows The Pendulum in its supposed teachings. They believe in the idea that the Pendulum holds all answers, and that it will one day answer the ultimate question: When will it all end? Church Members of the Doomsday Clock (known as Dials) wear special cloaks blessed by sand from the domain of the Pendulum, which often results in a variety of negative effects for the wearer including permanent hearing loss (hearing the ticking of the pendulum so loud that no spoken word and sometimes thoughts can be heard), advanced aging, slowed/sped movement, visions, and debilitating fear of not knowing what time it is. Wearers of the cloaks that do not suffer madness from the negative effects of the cloaks are often blessed with immortality, allowing them to never die a natural death. Some Dials have even claimed to see the supposed 'true face' of the Pendulum and been granted with omniscience, although no such member has ever actually been truly omniscient. Members of the Doomsday Clock who do go mad before the effects of the sand have time to settle on their cloaks are often killed in a dishonorable fashion by Dials who have noted that they are 'unworthy'. This death is forced asphyxiation by being buried in the sand until death comes. Self Defense Dials are not typically combat-oriented, and most are entirely untrained for any sort of fighting. The few that can defend themselves often do so with the use of what they have called "Chronetic Movement", or brief bursts of movement through time rather than space. This is often limited to several minutes, and they can go either forward or backward, but do always run the risk of killing themselves by doing so improperly and risking a paradox. Such a paradox typically momentarily destabilizes time in the area they were standing, which can result in anyone within a distance from several inches to up to 50 meters being caught in an Event Horizon where they are frozen in time until the paradox is fixed by The Pendulum itself. Dials have stated that the Pendulum does this since it cannot observe places in our reality when time isn't moving at that location. The only weapon Dials carry are small watches which apparently make the exact same kind of noises that the Pendulum itself does. Unlike hearing the Pendulum itself, its effects are temporary and much more limited, often resulting in victims feeling nauseous, disoriented, being temporarily deafened by ticking (it fades over time), and a sudden perception issue where an individual may be capable of seeing a situation from multiple timelines at once (similar to one of the possible effects of the Pendulum). Effects wear off anywhere from several minutes to days later, but rarely last longer than a day and have never notably lasted longer than a week. Eye of the Pendulum Members of the Doomsday Clock have a massive clock which is in the realm of in their Church which takes up an entire room in and of itself. Entering the clock is impossible, and it cannot be damaged. Additionally, despite the gears, clockwork, and other machinery inside clearing working, the minute, second, and hour hands have been frozen on its giant clock face at "11:59:59", and the Doomsday Clock insist it is not broken, just that it isn't 'time'. The supposed story behind this clock, call the "Eye of the Pendulum", is that should the Pendulum ever cease learning from our reality or find it no longer has anything for it to learn, the clock will strike 12, and the Eye of the Pendulum will rupture time itself in our reality, destroying time altogether. Not a single Dial knows when this will happen, or even if it will happen, however Dials high up in the Doomsday Clock who claim to be centuries old have stated that it is true. "To those unworthy ears it may sound like a 'tick, tock', that just continues minute after minute. It is no such thing. It is a countdown. The Pendulum has spoken. Through it's clicks, rings, and grinding gears, it has spoken loudly. It will eventually tire, and this world, and everything it has, will no longer exist in time. Treasure every second, for every second may be your last breath when this god of gods has truly seen all it wishes to see." Dial Monk Dials are instructed to protect the Eye of the Pendulum under all costs, and all members of the Doomsday Clock do not fear its ticking, but rather admire it. Category:Cults Category:The Path of Dread